The invention relates to an arrangement for introducing a flexible starter bar, having a starter bar head, into a continuous casting plant with a lifting means for gripping and lifting the starter bar and a displacement means designed as a car and arranged above the strand guide, by which car the lifted starter bar is introduced into the mould or into the strand guide below the mould.
According to German Auslegeschrift No. 1,961,443 an arrangement of this kind is known, wherein the displacement means is designed as a car that is movable on the casting platform. The car carries an endless conveyor belt that is guided over deflection rollers. This conveyor belt introduces the strand, which is carried in a cassette, into the mould. This known arrangement has the disadvantage that the rails for guiding the car are required to extend right up to the mould creating the danger of pollution and restricting the space in the operational region of the mould in an undesirable manner. Beside the car, the known arrangement requires a separate lifting means for lifting and a turning means for turning the cassette with the starter bar before placing it on the car.
In another known arrangement (Japanese Patent Publication No. Sho-41-21971), a derrick is provided on the casting platform, wherein the jib is provided with a driving roller and a deflection roller. When the foot end of the starter bar has been lifted to the casting platform, it is drawn to the mould via roller brackets and the derrick, wherein the starter bar sags between the rollers. The crane and the remaining transporting means restrict the space on the casting platform. Of course, such arrangements are only suitable for small plants with small dimensions for the strand cross-section.